We'll get better someday
by Kitty go moo
Summary: Saibara is diagnosed with cancer, and Gray and Claire are left to cope with it. Will they get better? Two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**I made this a while back. It was my first story that I wrote for Harvest Moon a few months ago. I'm not too happy with it, but whatever. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Harvest Moon belongs to Natsume... not me.**

His face was strained. Tears ran down his old, wrinkled cheeks… He knew he was dying.

"You know Gray… you're one mighty blacksmith. I never complimented your work, because I was afraid you would stop working hard… That was a stupid assumption. I was worried you might think I was a big softy, worried you might manipulate me somehow… That was dumb as well. We both know you would never do that. I apologise for all the fights we had, for all the ones that could have been non-existent. I want you to take good care of the blacksmith's, I'm sure you will do fine. There are no words to describe how proud I am to have you as my Grandson." Gramps said to me. He pulled my hand to his and held it tight. No matter how much cancer has weakened him, he still has his vice-like grip.

I looked up at the sound of yelling. Claire was yelling at Doctor in desperation, telling him to do something. Doctor shrugged his shoulders, looking horrible. He seemed a little scared of Claire. He had been trying to cure Saibara, but it proved impossible. Tears stained Claire's usually shining face. She had always been fond of my grandfather.

"Is that girl letting her temper loose again? I swear she's almost as bad as you are." Saibara laughed.

I smiled lightly, remembering all the moments Claire has had fits…

*

"_I SWEAR THAT CHICKEN IS EVIL! EVIL I TELL YOU! EVIL!"_

_I was laughing inside, and found it hard to keep a straight face. '_

"_I AM GOING TO TAKE MAH CHICKEN BACK TO RICK!"_

"_Claire, you need that chicken."_

"_NUHUH! I'LL GET A COW!"_

"_How about I take care of the stupid chicken and I get half the profit?"_

"_...fine."_

*

I still take care of that same damn chicken.

"Gray…" Saibara said. I snapped out of my memories, back into the present. "I know how you feel about her."

My eyebrows shot up with surprise. "I've seen the way you look at her, the way you smile when she talks to you. And I must say I think she feels the same way. I know you will treat her well. I hope you end up having a happy life together."

"Thanks. I really do care for you. I'm sorry for all the times I've called you… unpleasant things." I whispered back, wiping away a tear.

"Oh no, I deserved those labels… Especially Grouchy Mc Grouch." Saibara smirked. I called him that when I was merely 5. Losing my grandpa will be losing a large chunk of my childhood.

Claire came back to join us with a tear-streaked face. I forced a smile and squeezed her hand. Even with puffy red eyes she was beautiful.

"Now, Claire don't be sad. You have a bright life ahead of you. I've lived a long life. Do not mourn my death, but celebrate my life. I have lived long, and it is now time for my life to come to an end."

Claire nodded, trying to stem her tears with her sleeve.

I heard beeping and looked up at the board showing Saibara's heart rate. Saibara's heart was getting slower and slower.

"Claire, I love you, you will do great things in life. All I ask is you live happily, but without forgetting me. Take this necklace, in memory of me."

Claire took the necklace from gramps and muttered a thank you.

"Gray, take all my master tools. Use them well. You have earned them."

I glanced upwards at the board, seeing the line getting straighter.

"Gray… I hope you know I've always loved you, and always will. I am going to a better place and I will be watching over both of you." Grandpa said his voice barely audible now.

The doctor looked at us with a mix of pity, and guilt.

"So lay me down to sleep…"

The thumps of his heart faded to nothing and the hand I was holding went limp.

Grief came crashing down on me. I pushed back tears. They could wait until I got to Claire's house.

I scooped Claire up in my arms and walked over to doctor.

Thanks for nothing. "Thank you for your attempts, Doctor." I said awkwardly.

He nodded gravely, and I brushed past him.

I looked down at the ground fiercely, Claire still in my arms. And then I felt a raindrop. More raindrops. I lifted my eyes to the sky. Oh look, the sky is crying, too. It quickly turned into a down-pour. I burst into Claire's house, soaking wet.

I collapsed on the couch tiredly. And then the tears came. They did not come in little drops as they do most of the time. No, they came in rivers. I cried into the cold air as Claire sobbed into my shoulder. She was my sole comfort on this tragic day.

"Claire?" I whispered.

"What is it Gray?" Her voice cracked half-way through.

"Come sit here." Claire scooted closer to me and snuggled into my chest.

I stroked her long blond hair, and sang a lullaby into her ear. She was asleep by the time I finished. It had been a long week for us. "We'll get better someday… we'll get better someday…" I whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

**So here is the second part! You may wonder why did I decide to make it two separate parts when it's so short. I did it because one part kind of has the breaking, and the other the healing. So yeah! Hope you like it!**

**---**

I lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. It's been a year since Gramps passed away. And boy has it been a hard and eventful one.

I looked over to my right to see Claire sleeping peacefully. We're married now. We have been for two seasons.

*

"_OH MY GOSH! YES GRAY! YES! YES! YES!" Claire screamed excitedly at the top of her lungs._

_She leaned down and kissed me._

_I got up and smiled, slipping the engagement ring onto Claire's finger. I hugged her tightly, inhaling the raspberry smell of her hair. God I love the raspberry smell._

_We were watching the sunset on the quiet late-summer beach, listening to the ocean. Well, not_ _so quiet once Claire realised that I was proposing._

_We stopped hugging and I stood back to look at her. She was crying._

"_Oh my gosh! What did I do? Did I hurt your feelings? I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-" _

"_Nothing is wrong… In fact, everything is perfect! Gray… you have no idea how happy I am. This is my best birthday ever." Claire cut in._

_We kissed and looked back at the sunset one last time, before we set off towards Claire's farm. _

_As we got onto her property, I involuntarily smiled. Claire had another birthday present coming her way._

_I held open the door and she got in two steps before she noticed her house was different._

"_Gray! You idiot! You stupid, dumb, sweet, amazing, adorable IDIOT!" Claire said._

_What I thought was really funny, was she kept muttering idiot under her breath while admiring her new fully upgraded house. Claire gawked at the stuff in her house. Yeah, I kind of got furniture too._

_Claire flung herself on to the big bed. Gosh I had trouble getting that stupid thing, but it was necessary if I wanted to marry her._

_I looked around at my work. I guess I did pretty well._

"_ARGHH!!!" I yelled. In a fraction of a second that I looked away, Claire had pounced on me showering me with a million "thank you"'s and "I love you"'s. Claire finally shut up and held me tight._

"_Thank you so much Gray. You're the best boyfriend/to-be husband EVER!"Claire chirped._

_I ruffled her hair and said a quiet, "no problem"._

"_I can't wait till our wedding!" Claire whispered excitedly._

"_Only seven days…" I whispered with a small smile that just wouldn't leave my lips._

_*_

_DING! DONG!_

_The church bells had never sounded as great as they did on that day._

_People began to take their seats in the pews, smiling. I can't believe so many people came. I suppose Claire is pretty popular... My Claire… _

_I almost jumped when the wedding music came on. No one noticed though. They were too busy looking at Claire… And boy did they have a good reason to. Claire wasn't just beautiful as she always is… She was… just...amazing, indescribable, pure wow. _

_May walked in front of Claire, spreading petals everywhere. I feel sorry for whoever has to clean up afterwards._

_We went through the vows quite fast. When Carter said "You may kiss the bride", I was really jittery. I seriously don't like kissing in public. To be honest, I was terrified. I wanted to run out of the church. But my love for Claire kept me there. I want to be with her forever. And if kissing her in front of a crowd was the small price I had to pay to be with her forever, I would do that. I __**will**__ do that._

_I stepped forward and kissed her. Claire made it brief, because she knew I wasn't a fan of displaying my emotions to a whole crowd of people._

_As we walked out of the Church, I smiled. I couldn't of been happier._

_*_

The past two months have been bliss. Claire was the best thing that ever happened to me. I stepped out of memory land, back into the present.

I figured I should make breakfast. Claire loves bacon and boiled eggs, so I made that. I also grabbed some grapefruit juice (another thing Claire adores) and put it all on a tray.

I walked up to Claire and stroked her head gently.

"Clairebear…" I called to her, smirking at her adopted nickname. Something about it just made me laugh so hard.

"Mmmph?"

Claire has never been a morning person. And she is a farmer. Bad combo.

"I made you breakfast."

"Aww… Thanks Gray." Claire smiled.

She was always a sucker for breakfast in bed. She gave me a quick kiss before digging in.

We finished breakfast, and Claire helped me put the dishes away. When she stood up, I realised the roundness of her stomach was becoming more and more pronounced. We have a baby coming. One more season, and I'll have a baby girl… I'm excited but scared… Can I be a good father?

Claire and I walked back over to a cabinet where our clothes were kept. As Claire did every morning, she checked the calendar.

She nearly fell back, but didn't, because I happened to be just behind her. She sat down on the bed, tears in her eyes.

"Today is the day Saibara died… It's really been a year…" she whispered between sobs.

"Claire, don't cry. Be happy as he wanted us to be. We have a wonderful life ahead of us." I said.

"He would be so proud of you… I wish he was here so he could see the baby when she comes" Claire said.

"But he is here. He is always here. He is just watching from higher up than usual."

"I love you so much Gray. I'm glad I moved here." Claire said.

"I love you too Claire. I don't know what I would do without you. You helped me through those days. You kept me going. Now I'm keeping you going. Smile." I said.

Because Claire was getting weaker I had taken over the farm work (and I still take care of the "evil" chicken, but there are more now) so I went over and did that in record time.

I handed Claire a flower I had gotten for her, and left for work. Work was pretty lonely, until an old friend from the city came. He got sick of the city too. His name is Kyle. He is strong to, and lives at the inn. The room my grandfather slept in remained empty. It was too painful to go in there.

Kyle and I share tasks and we're each our own boss. Kyle remains unmarried, but he prefers it that way. He was never one to make commitments. He is kind of like Kai, but Kai decided he loved Popuri enough to stay forever.

As soon as it was one o'clock I went back home to Claire. She smiled and asked if I wanted to go out for a picnic.

We ate while talking about anything and everything that came onto our minds.

I glanced at my watch. It was 10 pm. We should go back, but something caught my eye: a star shining brightly, brighter than the others.

I took Claire's arm and pointed at the star.

"Told you he was watching over us." I said playfully.

She smiled and cuddled into me.

We did get better… And I'm sure things will get even better. With Claire by my side, I was the happiest man on earth.

**---**

**So tell me what you thought of it! Don't be afraid to criticize, it's an old story that doesn't quite reflect my current writing. I promise I won't be offended! Oh and for _Staying Over_, I'm working on it, put I will be a bit busy... But I promise it'll be up before next weekend! **


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